Down South, and Back to Center

my son and I are cat-people, and some of my stories of overseas travel involve cats.  Israel was no exception, and he quickly learned the Hebrew word for cat (chatool) and would call them out when he saw them.  at Masada, I let him and his grandmother off at the entrance while I went to park the car, and in the parking lot, I ran across these cute kitties, and snapped off a shot to show my son when I got up to where he was.

now my darlings - I have been up Masada a few times.  the first when I was 8, hale and hearty to climb a desert mountain in the pre-dawn.  and again when I was fifteen, the day before my foot got messed up in an evening brawl with a hotel window.  then in the days after my brother's wedding, of which I wrote about several years back, and reposted recently (but here it is again:  Remembrance).  this time, with my mom on a cane, and me not in the best shape of my life, I shamefacedly took the...*gasp* cable car...to the top of Masada.  it's not the experience I wanted for my son, but without my dad there to lead the early morning expedition, I felt ill-prepared as a substitute.  turns out the Snake Path was closed due to high winds, so I can use that as my excuse...

too bad this terrace was locked - it would have been cool to have a pic of my boy where I have a pic of my parents.

nice tub

Herod and his bathing obsession

where they found the 'lots'

and the cable car:

my dad was in my head the whole time we were up there.

we spent that night (and the next morning) at, and in, the Dead Sea:

at the gas station shop

across from the station

my pixelated kid floating halfway to Jordan

innovative design water fountain

on our way back North, we stopped for a quick lunch at the Elvis American Diner, just outside of Jerusalem:

before arriving in Tel Aviv.

there was some fun graffiti in the parking garage:

some random shots from around the city:

gorgeous flowers everywhere

nice find

funny, to those of us, who...well, if you get it, there it is  😊

someone discovered schwarma is more than the punchline to a joke in an Avengers movie...

...and they have this cool electric hand tool to cut it, now!

day city

city beach

night city

some random shots I felt like sharing:

roadside foliage, bursting with color

does the one on the right look suspicious to you?

the rare and elusive teen 'What Bird'

I hope you enjoyed sharing our vacation, we enjoyed taking it!